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Rinkya Impacts Manga With the Golden Leopard!

Tempe, Arizona and Tokyo, Japan-June 20,2009--"We couldn't be more honored to be a part of Manga Impact," says Heather Russell CEO of Rinkya Inc. "Those of us who have believed that Japanese animation is a true cinematic art form, cannot help but look upon this as a giant step fore ward in recognizing the art we love and believe in."

Manga Impact is a joint event between the Locarno International Film Festival and Italy’s National Cinema Museum in Turin, with the sponsorship of Swiss Life, and the contributions and collaborations of the Japan Foundation, Japan's NFC (National Film Center), Kawakita Memorial Film Institute, and Japan's leading Internet shopping service, Rinkya, Inc.

"For Manga to be recognized by the festival that helped launch the careers of such film makers as Claude Chabrol, Stanley Kubrick, Milos Foreman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alain Tanner, Mike Leigh, Spike Lee, Kim Ki-duk and countless other giants is amazing, and in concert with one's of the world's premier museums of cinema, a major event for both the art of cinema and for Manga," continues Heather.

"It is an amazing thing to grow up alongside a new art form. To watch it grow in respect and recognition. To see it come into it's own as a respected form of art on an international stage. To watch what began for me on a small UHF station in New Jersey I had to get my father to adjust the antenna to get in Brooklyn, and with a few tapes scattered through specialty stores on Canal Street, to a world wide phenomenon recognized by a major museum in concert with one of the world's most prestigious film festivals. And it is a major personal thrill for me, with my collaboration in it through Rinkya.

"Even as a child, you can see art and know, somehow, that it is important. And that is the story of Manga, on a truly international scale. It is the art so many recognized as children in America, in France, in Italy and around the world. Some, like me, it inspired to build companies, to move across half a world, to be a part of it.

"Through the Internet, it is an event everyone can share as the Manga Impact website http://www.mangaimpact.ch/ goes live. You can follow the program, see the entries in the contest. Be a part of the history of cinema, animation, and Manga. Share in the magic of an art form coming into it's own."